


A Christmas Carol in Prose

by Ayearandaday



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/M, FO is toxic, HEA, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Hux needs someone to knock some sense into his head, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, Kylo can sing, Kylo is in denial, Protective Rey (Star Wars), Redeemed Ben Solo, Resistance is a charity organization, Rey is an angel, Scrooge Kylo, Snoke is a manipulative bastard, Tags Are Hard, a bit of angst, because I'm no Disney, businessman kylo, but he hides it, but he needs help, caroller Rey, in all senses, is going to have a change of heart, not quite fluff, the author loves carols
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21932581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayearandaday/pseuds/Ayearandaday
Summary: In Kylo's opinion Christmas and everything holiday-related is a waste of time and money. But what happens when he meets a girl who's his personal ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future all in one?
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 19
Kudos: 42





	A Christmas Carol in Prose

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [A Christmas Carol in Prose](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23508022) by [Enjouement](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enjouement/pseuds/Enjouement)



> Years ago in my Foreign Lit reader I stumbled upon a story called "A Christmas Song in Prose". The title was odd, but it was obviously a translation and the story somehow got stuck with me. Imagine my surprise when several years later I realized it's actually "A Christmas Carol". The funny thing is that no one even says Christmas song in my country, carols here are called 'koliadki'. Anyway, it got stuck in my head and my Christmas AU needed a title, so here we are. 
> 
> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it tomorrow and happy winter holiday to those who don't! May the next year bring you all the Reylo goodness you deserve!
> 
> As always, many-many thanks to my amazing beta fulcrum_of_pemberley!

Every December, without a hitch, the carollers appeared on the corner of Aldera and Raddus streets right in front of Supremacy Mall. They were as common a sign of Christmas in Naboo as tacky decorations and an abundance of fir trees. Obnoxious and useless in equal measures if anyone asked Kylo. No one usually did. You don’t just go asking the First Order Industries CEO’s right hand questions.

Kylo would be called Scrooge on a good day. On a bad one.… It sufficed to say he didn’t have much of a Christmas spirit. Blessedly, the First Order didn’t do any holidays whatsoever.

The wretched carollers, though, did. They weren’t just a bunch of overexcited random fools, no, unfortunately they operated on behalf of the Resistance, a charity organization. Kylo scowled. The Resistance with their idiotic performances supposedly tried to fight poverty (which they only perpetuated) and instill family values (that they didn’t care about). All in all, they were a waste of time and space he shouldn’t even bother to spare a glance for, but unfortunately Kylo had to pass them twice daily, on the way to and from work, and even noise-cancelling headphones could only do so much.

Hypothetically, he could drive or call an Uber, but that would be a sign of weakness and he was anything but weak. Instead Kylo was forced to ignore familiar faces and equally familiar tunes. Their number and composition always changed, but the core people were the same. There was Holdo, tall and willowy as always, and Ackbar (he, at least, had put on some extra weight). Dameron, always singing off-key, Connix with her stupid buns, Pava, Wexley, Lintra.… Never Reverend Skywalker or Mayor Organa, though. Why would they if they had their minions?

There were new faces as well. That Asian girl brought her sister with her. What was their name? Tako? There was a young dark-skinned oddly familiar man with the smile of an idiot believing that people were inherently good. And then there was her. A girl with an odd hairstyle in a dove grey coat who sang.… Well, Kylo didn’t use words like ‘angel,’ though that would be an apt description. She sounded like someone who should sing in concert halls and cathedrals, not on the street asking money for a lost cause.

Not that he cared, that is. Actually, he blamed her for getting “In Dolci Jubilo” stuck in his head for the rest of the day. Stars, he hated that song. Still, she called to him like a siren in the storm. Good thing Kylo knew how to resist temptation.

His usually strong will failed him on a cold December evening when he had stayed at work particularly late. The streets were empty, which suited him just fine, and the skeleton crew of the Resistance gang had finally gone home… or so he thought until _the voice_ stopped him dead in his tracks.

_Hark how the bells,  
Sweet silver bells,  
All seem to say,  
Throw cares away_

The voice was as clear and crisp as a crystal bell, sending shivers down his spine. Kylo wouldn’t confess it even under torture, but Carol of the Bells was his all-time favorite. Blindly, he followed the tune.

_Ding dong ding dong  
That is their song  
With joyful ring  
All carolling._

Of course it was her. The girl. She was standing there, alone, under the streetlight, and singing without a single care in the world.

_Oh how they pound,  
Raising the sound,  
O'er hill and dale,  
Telling their tale._

_Gaily they ring  
While people sing_

The snowflakes lit by the streetlight fell around her like embers and she looked more a magical creature than flesh and blood.

  
_Songs of good cheer,  
Christmas is here._

_Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas,  
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas._

The girl looked at him and smiled. Kylo was enthralled. When was the last time someone smiled at him? This snow fairy wasn’t afraid or annoyed, an unfamiliar sight for him. Finally, the last note rang in the air and she turned her full attention to him.

“Hi.”

“What are you doing here alone?” Kylo asked her in place of a greeting, more sharply than he intended. Didn’t she know how dangerous it was? The girl just smiled.

“I’m not alone. You are here.”

If he wasn’t befuddled before, he was now.

“I’m Rey.”

He blinked at her. “Kylo. Kylo Ren.”

“I know who you are. Did you come to hear me carol?”

Suddenly he realized that Rey was standing with a donation box, the perfect Resistance poster child. Kylo recoiled from her.

“I don’t donate.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t do charity,” he maintained. “It just helps to perpetuate poverty. Some people should stop looking for excuses to be lazy and start doing real work,” Kylo loosely quoted Snoke.

“OK,” Rey nodded calmly.

“What? You have something to say about that, don’t you?” he snapped. He knew how it usually went. Snippets of phrases rang in his ears. _What’s wrong with you? I can’t believe you are my son. How could I raise a monster?_

Rey shrugged. “Not really.”

“You’re not going to tell me how despicable I am for not paying you?” Kylo asked, confused. This was not what he was used to.

“I don’t take payments,” Rey smiled. “My songs are free. Whether or not you donate is up to you. It’s a personal choice.”

Kylo felt out of his element. She was clearly one of Luke’s charges- she was hard-wired to hate him with all her might. So why didn’t she?

“You aren’t going to fight me on this, are you?” he asked incredulously.

“A dear friend says we win only by saving what we love, not fighting what we hate. That’s what I believe.”

“Ah, your precious God?” he sneered. Another of the tales Skywalker fed to his charges.

“Whatever you want to call it. I believe in love. Compassion. Forgiveness. Redemption. That’s the God I believe in,” Rey said with conviction. “You look shocked,” she observed.

“You… are not what I expected.”

“What _did_ you expect?” she scrunched her nose in confusion.

“I don’t know,” Kylo confessed. “Someone who would point out every single thing I do and think wrong.”

The girl shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe I’m your ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future all in one and you just have to wait.”

Despite himself Kylo shivered.

“Rey!” someone called from the mall’s entrance, snapping him of his reverie.

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” Kylo said hastily before retreating. “Good bye.”

“Good bye, Ben.”

It couldn’t be true. It simply wasn’t possible. So few people could connect Kylo Ren and his former self that it was inconceivable. How could a random girl know his birth name? Surely, he misheard. She couldn’t have called him by the name of a dead boy. And yet….

Kylo stayed away from her. Surely, his eyes didn’t search out her lithe form among her so-called friends. He hadn’t had a glimpse of her and her too light coat and odd hairstyle for a whole three days which should be a win. It didn’t feel like one.

On the fourth day the pattern broke. Kylo was heading home, deep in thought, when he heard the voice again.

_Silent night, holy night  
All is calm, all is bright  
  
_

He froze. “Silent Night” was the song his mother used to sing him to sleep. On the rare nights she was home, that is. How could Rey… Of course.

_Silent night, holy night  
Son of God, oh, love's pure light_

Rey turned her head, saw him, and smiled.

  
_Radiant beams from Thy holy face  
With the dawn of redeeming grace  
  
_

If anyone was radiant, it was her. Rey’s smile could be a source of light in its own right. And Kylo was a moth. Ye, he refused to be burned.

“You know who I am,” he stated plainly instead of a greeting.

Rey cocked her head.

“I told you I did.”

“Is this some kind of an elaborate ploy?” he demanded. This was low even for his family.

The girl blinked. “What? No, why would you think that?”

“The song you are singing,” Kylo snapped.

“It’s my favorite, why?” Rey looked at him, befuddled.

It was so easy to believe in her innocence, but he resisted.

“Oh, really? Surely, you know that my mo-,” he stumbled, “Leia used to sing it to me as a lullaby.”

Rey’s eyes widened for a second and something wistful appeared on her face. “That’s nice.”

Kylo snorted. Leia Organa didn’t do nice. Rational, reasonable, useful, convenient, not nice. “Nevermind. It’s nothing,” he brushed it off.

“Don’t be like that,” Rey said with a slight note of reproach in her voice. “Those memories are important to you.”

“No, they aren’t,” Kylo objected stubbornly. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know everything I need to,” she said calmly. There was nothing self-righteous in her tone and yet her words rubbed him the wrong way.

“You do? Ah, you do,” Kylo stared at her intently. Rey didn’t flinch. “Enlighten me.”

“I know that your real name is Ben Solo,” she said, looking him straight in the eye. It was Kylo who flinched. “I know that the harder you deny it, the truer it is. I know that you work for a company that crushes your soul. I know that at every dinner your mother puts a plate out for you, hoping you’ll come.” Ben recoiled in shock. “I know that at night, desperate to sleep, you keep thinking over all the things you did wrong. I know that your uncle regrets every word he said to you that night. I know you had never been the same since Han’s-”

“Don’t!” he yelled, unable to keep his temper in check. “Don’t you dare say his name!”

“Ben,” Rey called him softly. There wasn’t a trace of fear or disgust on her face, only compassion.

It scared him even more.

“No!”

“It’s not your fault,” she said gently.

“You don’t know what you are talking about. I…” Kylo faltered, his heart beating in his ears.

Rey took a step closer.

“You didn’t kill him; it was an accident. It’s not your fault.” She reached out for him, making him jump away. “Ben, please.” He recoiled, turning away and starting to run. “Ben!”

Kylo promised himself he wouldn’t return. He tried to go home earlier, getting an earful of “Deck the Halls” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Maker, he even saw Dameron’s mutt yapping out “Jingle Bells” to the utter delight of the crowd. The Resistance went home with the donation box full, people being overwhelmed into generosity by the heavily merchandised holiday. Kylo didn’t care. He had work to do. So how, after an exceptionally draining day, he found himself at that wretched spot again he had no idea.

Rey was there. Singing.

_Noel, Noel  
Noel, Noel  
The First Noel, the Angels did say  
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay_

She looked angelic in the streetlight, despite her pale (and probably not warm enough) coat and blue beanie. And the “First Noel” has never sounded more beautiful to Kylo.  
  


_They looked up and saw a star  
Shining in the East beyond them far  
And to the earth it gave great light  
And so it continued both day and night  
  
_

Could she be a fallen star? She looked like one. Even her name – Rey – reminded him of light. What was he doing there? He had no place in her story.

Rey thought otherwise. She saw him and smiled, not in a bright all teeth kind of way, but softly and delicately, as if she was genuinely happy to share her time and space with him. Which was unlikely. Kylo was decidedly not a people person.

“I don’t want to talk about my family,” he stated.

“OK. What do you want to talk about?” Rey asked amiably.

The question gave him pause. What indeed? He didn’t exactly do small talk, especially with pretty women.

“I don’t know,” he said helplessly.

“What’s the last series you’ve seen? I LOVE the Mandalorian. Baby Yoda is just the most adorable wee little thing.” Rey beamed.

He had no idea what she was talking about.

“I don’t have a TV.”

“You have a laptop,” she said, looking at him oddly.

“I don’t have time,” Kylo shrugged.

“What _do_ you do?” Rey asked. She sounded genuinely interested.

“I work.”

The girl blinked confusedly. “That can’t be all.”

“I work a lot.” When Kylo said he lived for the First Order, he wasn’t kidding.

Rey frowned. “That’s unhealthy. You aren’t a slave, you know?”

Ah, here it comes, the moralizing. “You don’t understand,” he said curtly. “That’s how one achieves true greatness.”

“And what does true greatness mean?” Rey didn’t sound mocking, just curious.

Kylo decided to indulge her.

“I’ll be the second person to Snoke in the First Order,” he informed her gravely. That was the aim he had spent years in pursuing.

“Aren’t you already?”

The question made him do a double take. “Yes, but I mean, he’ll stay on as VP but make me the CEO.”

“He would do that anyway,” Rey observed.

“Not if Hux has a say in it. He’s been trying to get rid of me since forever,” Kylo didn’t even try to hide the annoyance in his voice.

“Hasn’t your boss made up his mind?” the girl frowned.

“Not officially. I have to work harder to fulfill his expectations. Maybe this year,” he confessed his biggest hope.

She gave him an odd look. “He’s done it before, hasn’t he? Promised you something that never happened.”

“That…” sounded surprisingly true. Kylo gritted his teeth. “You’re wrong. Snoke is wise, he knows I’m not ready.”

“But you are,” Rey insisted. “You are ready, Ben. Don’t you see? He’s manipulating you, dangling a carrot in front of your nose.”

“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Kylo snapped, his fury raising.

“Don’t I?”

Rey was exactly like his family. Now he saw that.

“You’ll see. Everyone will. Have a good night,” he gritted before stomping away.

Little can compare to the feeling of being right. Except perhaps telling it the person who doubted you. Kylo strode toward Rey with a spring in his step, but froze at the sound of her voice.

_Oh, sisters two  
How may we do  
For to preserve this day?_

_This poor youngling  
Of whom we do sing  
By-by, lullay, lullay_

Why would she choose “Coventry Carol”, the most depressing Christmas song in existence?

_Lullay, lullay  
My little tiny child  
By-by, lullay, lullay_

_Lullay, lullay  
My little tiny child  
By-by, lullay, lullay  
  
_

Kylo shivered as the last notes of the haunting melody filled the air. Right then and there, Rey once again looked like an ancient ethereal creature that he, a mere mortal, had the privilege to glimpse. How could he argue with a force larger then him? Kylo was going to find out.

“You were wrong,” he said.

Rey quirked her eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Snoke told me he’s promoting me this year.” That’s it. It’s finally out there. He did it. He fulfilled his purpose.

Her brows furrowed. “Did he make an announcement or something?”

“No. But he will,” Kylo hastily amended, seeing her incredulous expression. “At our annual Gala.”

“Hmm. Why wait?” she asked, unconvinced.

Kylo gritted his teeth. “It’s complicated.”

“Sure is.”

“You don’t believe me,” he stated. Wouldn’t be the first time.

“I don’t believe this man will ever step down.” Rey looked at him questioningly. “Do you?”

Kylo opened his mouth, then closed, then opened it again. “He… he has to.” Surely that’s what was going to happen. It was finally time.

“What if he doesn’t? What if he tells you this year is not the year after all?” Rey voiced his biggest fear. “What if he demands you make yet another sacrifice? To sell your soul? To give and give until nothing is left but a wrinkled old shell made of spite and hatred?” Rey asked, her eyes burning.

“That won’t happen!”

“You know it’s true. Search your feelings if you must. Snoke is lying to your face, feeding off you.” She grabbed his hand. “Please, Ben, just listen.”

“You don’t know anything,” he snapped angrily. “You are wrong, you’ll see.”

“Ben,” she called after him. “Ben!”

Rey was right. Every single word she’d said was true. Snoke had called him in right before the Gala to say that Kylo wasn’t quite ready yet. Maybe another year would do the trick, but in the meantime he could prove his commitment to First Order by announcing the closure of one of its subsidiaries. If Kylo could deliver the news to hundreds of people that they will be out of work right after Christmas, then he would be one step closer to fulfilling his purpose. There was a hefty bonus, too, for his diligent work. Kylo felt sick. He nodded and thanked, shook hands with important people and pretended to enjoy the opulent party, like the automaton he was trained to be. _This_ was all he had worked for. _This_ was all he would ever get. Rey was right through and through. He’d thrown away ten years of his life for nothing.

Unable to bear another second there, Kylo slipped out into the cold streets. His dress shoes, tailored suit, and coat weren’t suited for the weather outside, but he couldn’t go back. He didn’t want to return to his apartment either, choosing instead to wander around the empty streets. The envelope with his bonus practically burned inside his pocket.

Eventually the sun rose. People trickled into the streets, careful to give him a wide berth. Why wouldn’t they? A towering pale man in black with his hair wild and his eyes wilder still wasn’t a comforting sight.

Somehow his legs carried him to the corner of Aldera and Raddus streets, only Rey wasn’t there. Instead the dark-skinned man with a kind face helped that Asian girl (what was her name again? Tico, her name was Tico) to adjust the donation box. They both wore cheerful festive scarves and smiled at each other. They looked happy. Normal. Kylo froze, unsure what to do. The dark-skinned man looked at him with concern.

“Sir, are you all right?”

Following instinct, Kylo handed him the wretched envelope. “Take this. For Rey.” He turned abruptly and quickly walked away, leaving the stunned kids behind.

“Sir? Sir!”

Kylo ran. He didn’t, couldn’t explain who he was or where the money came from. Let them think it was a Christmas miracle. Let Rey think so.

His phone kept ringing. Until it didn’t. Maybe it was out of power. Maybe he lost it. Kylo couldn’t bring himself to care. Nothing mattered anymore. He didn’t know how long he walked or whether he had stopped. Everything was blurred. He was cold and so tired. So damn tired. The bench looked so welcoming Kylo couldn’t resist. It was only when he sat down that he realized it was Aldera street again and he could see the crowd gathering for the carollers. Belatedly, he realized that it was Christmas Eve, the day when the Resistance gave their biggest performance. Kylo didn’t move. He had no energy left and would it be so bad to listen just this once? He was so tired he didn’t even notice another presence until he heard the gasp.

“Ben, oh my god, are you OK?” Rey. Of course it had to be her. The universe had a cruel sense of humour.

Kylo chuckled darkly. “No. You were right. About everything. I can’t.…”

“You’re shivering,” Rey gasped, taking off her scarf and wrapping it around his neck. “Stay here,” she ordered, before returning with a plastic cup full of something warm and sweet. “Drink.”

The light illuminated her from behind, creating a halo around her head.

“You _are_ an angel,” he croaked. “I was such a fool.”

“No!” she protested. “No. You made a mistake. You can fix it.”

Kylo shook his head. How could she be that blind? “I can’t. Without Snoke I’m nothing.”

“Not to me, Ben,” she said with utter conviction.

“You can’t say that. You don’t even know me,” he smiled sadly. “No one does.”

“But I do,” Rey insisted. “It was you who gave that donation, I know. There is light in you.” She got up and offered him her hand. “Come with me.”

“Where to?”

“Home,” she said simply.

He dropped his hand back in his lap. “I don’t have one.”

“You do,” Rey insisted. “I’ll show you.”

She took his hesitant hand and led him straight to the carollers. Everyone was there, the old faces and the new ones. Poe Dameron staring at him as if he’d seen a ghost, Kay Connix with her mouth agape, Aunt Amilyn, poised and composed as always, the Tico sisters whispering to each other…. He had no place in this story. And yet.…

“Ben?” Holdo asked incredulously.

“ _He_ made that donation...” the dark-skinned man whispered loudly to his neighbors.

“He _what_?”

“This is Ben. He’s with me.” Rey’s voice was loud and clear, her grip on his hand unwavering. She challenged them all for him and no one dared to oppose her. Rey led him to the center of the gathering, the singers forming something resembling a half-circle.

“Next one is “In the Bleak Midwinter,”” whispered the elder Tico, Paige, before passing the sheets with lyrics. “Do you know it?”

The corners of Amilyn’s mouth curled up. “He does.”

He did. The words were familiar on his tongue, as if they had always been there, waiting to be free. The carollers aligned for the performance, welcoming Kylo among their rows. With his fingers twined with Rey’s he did something he hadn’t done in years – he sang.

_What can I give him,  
Poor as I am?  
If I were a shepherd  
I would bring a lamb,  
If I were a wise man  
I would do my part,  
Yet what I can I give Him —  
Give my heart._

Rey caught him looking at her and smiled, her little hand squeezing his. He gave his heart to her and she took it to keep it safe and hers. She never let go of his hand, not through the carols, not after, not on the walk to his mother’s home, not through the Christmas dinner, not through all the long and difficult way from Kylo Ren to Ben Solo.

The wretched box didn’t want to stay put. Really, they should have invested in a new one, the old thing was slightly crooked and the lid didn’t want to close all the way. Nevertheless, Ben’s mood didn’t suffer. He kept humming “The Holly and the Ivy,” uncaring of the frosty wind. His burgundy scarf, a gift from Rey, along with a new dark grey coat kept him perfectly warm. He finally manhandled the donation box into place and breathed a sigh of relief. Someone behind him snickered.

“Oh my, how the mighty have fallen.”

“Hux,” Ben acknowledged his former colleague, still as pasty and stuffy as a year ago.

“Ren.” It’s difficult to say if the ginger was sneering or trying not to sneeze. “Snoke will laugh his ass off if I tell him that you have to beg for a living now.”

Ben shrugged. If Hux was trying to get a rise out of him, he was doing it wrong. “I work for Resistance, if that’s what you mean.”

“Is _this_ all you have achieved?” the ginger asked incredulously.

Ben nodded calmly. “Mostly. I’ve reconciled with my family, found work I genuinely like, and married the love of my life. You?”

“I’m going to take over for Snoke soon.” Hux was almost busting with pride.

“Soon?” Ben quirked his eyebrow. “With me out of the picture he should have already offered you the promotion.”

“He…” the man faltered for a second. “He will, eventually. Snoke is wise, he has to be sure I’m ready. Surprisingly, Phasma turned out to be a strong competitor, but we both know who’ll get the job.”

Ben sighed. Even the phrasing sounded familiar. “Look, Hux…” He paused when small warm arms wrapped around his middle.

“Hello,” the newcomer greeted.

Hux’s eyes bulged. “What-”

“Rey, meet Armitage Hux, my former colleague. Hux, meet Rey, my wife,” Ben said last words with particular pride.

“Nice to meet you,” Rey smiled, offering her hand with a smile. She waited for a few moments, then dropped her hand, confused.

“Goodness gracious! You married the Little Match Girl? Snoke will be _so_ pleased to hear this.”

“Hux,” Ben growled, his eyes narrowing to slits.

“Mr. Hux, when was the last time you called your parents?” Rey suddenly asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Your parents?” she prompted.

“Brendol?” Ben supplied helpfully.

“What does…” Hux faltered. “That’s no concern of yours.”

Rey frowned. “It’s Christmas time, surely they-”

“They know that I’m busy,” Hux stated. “Besides, they don’t care.”

“How do you know if you don’t talk to them?” she looked at him questioningly. “How do you know they don’t save a place for you at their table?”

“That’s idiocy,” Hux snorted. “My father is too busy with his new wife, he has no time for such nonsense.”

“You would rather spend Christmas alone in your empty apartment than with people who care about you?” Ben asked the all too familiar question.

The ginger’s eyes rounded. “They don’t…”

“You would rather go to your lonely home day after day after terrible day?” Rey asked, making him recoil in horror.

“Call your parents, Hux,” Ben advised. “They are hoping you will.”

“You… you both.…” the man took a step back, then another, then turned and darted away. Rey squeezed Ben’s hand. He wrapped her in his arms, anchoring himself in the feeling of her warmth. Together they watched the retreat of a man who tried to outrun his own ghosts.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you know that Carol of the Bells actually originated from Ukraine? It's called Shchedryk and technically it's not a carol (koliadka), but a New Year song (shchedrivka) and is traditionally sang by men on the eve of the Julian New Year (January 13), which is called Shchedry vechir (Bountiful Evening). But since it's one of the most beloved holiday songs it's sang by everyone from December till January. If you are curious how Carol of the Bells sounds in Ukrainian, check this link for a pretty version:
> 
> https://youtu.be/ZZEMvVcf5-Q
> 
> Or this one for a flashmob version: 
> 
> https://youtu.be/zGnjL-jQuBU


End file.
